UNC Baseball: Trent Thornton traded to Seattle Mariners

The former UNC baseball standout will be heading west, as he’s been traded to the Seattle Mariners a few days before the MLB Trade Deadline.

For the second time in his professional career, former UNC baseball standout Trent Thornton has been traded.

Thornton was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for infielder Mason McCoy. To make room on the 40-man roster for Thornton, left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales was transferred from the 15-day Injured List to the 60-day Injured List.

The former Tar Heel was with the Blue Jays big league club for parts of five seasons, as he’s been limited to just four relief appearances during the 2023 season. His heaviest workload came in 2019, as he made 29 starts as part of the team’s starting rotation.

During his time with the Blue Jays, Thornton posted a 7–14 record with a 4.77 ERA. He was originally selected by the Houston Astros in the 5th round of the 2015 MLB Draft and was traded to the Blue Jays in exchange for Aledmys Díaz in 2018.

Thornton was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on July 21, as they were able to find a trade partner during the 10-day allotted period. With the trade, the Mariners have optioned Thornton to Triple-A Tacoma, but he’ll be an option for them down the stretch as he’s been placed on the organization’s 40-man roster.

This seems like a “minor trade,” but it’s one that could help the Mariners bullpen at some point. The Mariners are just 4.5 games out of the final wild-card spot, so they are very much in the playoff race at this point in the season.

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